The use of protective helmets is widespread as in organized games of baseball and the like, the helmets frequently being of the type having a molded plastic shell, with a protective frontal peak serving also as an eye shade.
One earlier approach to the use of a protective face mask with a protective helmet, used by both adults and by juvenile Little Leaguers has been a clear plastic wrap around shield of high impact polycarbonate, enclosing the middle and lower portion of the wearers face, and being cantilevered forwardly from the helmet ear flags. This is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,886,596 June 3, 1975 FRANKLIN et al.
This earlier arrangement suffers the disadvantages of being a somewhat high cost item, and of forming an enclosure with certain depressive psychological overtones. More importantly it is though that the degree of mechanical protection for the frontal forehead zone of the wearer could be significantly improved, in view of a susceptability of the helmet peak to buckle or deflect under impact.
The use of face guards, as in sports is well developed and widespread, for motor racing, football, ice hockey and baseball, as evidenced in the following listed United States patents. These patents include the use of wire masks, the following first listed patent, of McClintock, Sr., being to a mask used with a peaked helmet; the substantial remainder comprise of wire masks for football helmets:
______________________________________ 3067427 Dec. 1962 McClintock Sr. 3139624 July 1964 Humphrey 3167783 Feb. 1965 Wolfe 3263236 Aug. 1966 Humphrey 3686690 Aug. 1972 Webb 3729746 May 1973 Humphrey 3751728 Aug. 1973 Thomkins 3854146 Dec. 1974 Dunning 4086664 May 1978 Humphrey et al 4233687 Nov. 1980 Lancellotti 4342122 Aug. 1982 Abraham 4370759 Feb. 1983 Zide 4390995 July 1983 Walck 4594737 June 1986 Butash 4631758 Dec. 1986 Newman et al 4633531 Jan. 1987 Nimmons 4689835 Sep. 1987 Draft 4692947 Sep. 1987 Black et al ______________________________________